Events Calendar
Flipping the knowledge model: geography, interdisciplinarity, and the body
The 21st century is marked by a series of interconnected crises for humans and the environment, all profoundly impacting health, well-being, and survival (and each affecting different human bodies differently). Simultaneously, a transformative scientific paradigm shift—an inversion—is underway, poised to fundamentally alter scientific understanding of the intricate relationship between human bodies and surrounding environments. This talk will present plausible evidence supporting this inversion and highlight why geography must be at its leading edge. Additionally, it will introduce a flexible model for understanding how the body works with(in) its environmental milieu, offering a convergent perspective crucial for navigating today's challenges.
Dr. Allison Hayes-Conroy is an Associate Professor of Geography, Urban, and Environmental Studies at Temple University. A feminist geographer by training, her research centers on questions of the human body. In the political arena, Allison’s work asks why and how the body matters for mobilization and motivation. In science, Allison’s work asks how bodily feeling matters for health. As an innovator in pedagogy and research training, Allison started an NSF-funded interdisciplinary research studio to facilitate life, social, and environmental team science on the human body, and to enable scientific collaboration across discipline and epistemology. She also co-founded and leads an international research network in Bio3Science and supports a node of diverse kinds of health research in Medellin, Colombia. Allison has authored or co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications. She is a strong voice for cross-epistemological research in the area of health and wellbeing, and she mentors junior faculty and graduate students in this area. She is passionate about creating spaces for and discussion around mental health and neurodiversity among graduate students. She holds a B.A. in Growth and Structure of Cities (summa cum laude) from Bryn Mawr College, an MA in Geography from the University of Hawai’i, and a Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University.
